>> 8.10.2011

Okay, folks. So, I know many of you like ideas and resources for schooling your children at home because you are either a) already doing that or b) considering it and looking for resources just like I always am. Well, I have a post in the works to share some of my most *FAB* resources, books, websites, etc., but today, I am most proud to be trying out a posting of my own {very unexciting} file to share: a word list that includes all of Child-1st Publications sight words.

This list includes over 300 Dolch and Fountas & Pinnell sight words taking you from Pre-K - 3 grade levels. I needed a way to occasionally "test" my children to see exactly where they are at in their sight word acquisition and this was the simplest way I could come up with. (Much better than the ever changing sorting of piles "this one you know" and "this one you don't know"=) Now I can test on paper and adjust their flashcards in an index box accordingly. (Don't ask me what I'll do if there is the same word they both need to work on at the same time; I only have one set of the Child-1st "SnapWords"!)

(BTW, Child-1st Publications puts out GREAT multi-sensory resources to help children in both reading/language and math skills. I find the SnapWords, another name for flashcards, work great because they give a picture to help the child remember the word easier. I do not use all their curriculum, although I have a friend who has and LOVES it, but I have loved using the SnapWords and so have my kids. They always have fun going over their flashcards because they like the drawings and feel successful quite quickly. Also, for me the cards give a systematic approach to learning the most commonly used words in our English language-- I love having direction and knowing where I'm going! These help me in that way.)

Okay, so here goes nothing! Let's see if I can figure out how to post my very first "printable!" Use these lists to test up to three times, by which point I have found my children usually have attained them with mastery levels.